The Usual Flaws In TSH Plan

Vision for club district ...By BRYN WEESE, SUN MEDIA

Forget the drunks.

Two-way traffic on Richmond and Adelaide Sts., tree-lined promenades, a pedestrian mews, and a completely revitalized John St. will one day define the city's Entertainment District.

The local Business Improvement Area yesterday unveiled its master plan for the area, that spans from the Gardiner Expressway to just south of Queen St. W. between Spadina Ave. and Simcoe St.

There is no timeline for the six-pronged vision to become a reality, but rather it will unfold along with future private development, Councillor Adam Vaughan says.

He also said, while there is no dollar figure attached to the plan, the city will likely fund half of the cost for some of the projects as per its agreement with the city's BIAs.

"It's not a big dollar item. What it is, it's a coordinated vision that pulls together the extraordinary cultural practices up and down John St. on either side, and focuses it into a new vision for the city," he said.

"The public investment will be so small, you'll be happy to pay taxes."

According to the plan, John St., from the AGO to the Rogers Centre, will become a pedestrian-oriented festival-friendly destination that will act as the "central spine" of the district.

"John St. becomes this amazing corridor for culture, and for celebration, and to really accommodate the cultural facilities that dot John St. from the Waterfront right up to the Art Gallery and OCAD," Vaughan said.

Bars and nightclubs will play a part in the new vision, he said.

"We've never said this isn't a place to come and have fun," Vaughan said. "It doesn't need to be a place where you come and cause trouble. This should be a place where you come and celebrate the city. The bar owners that understand that vision ... know that it will be good for their bottom line as well."